Govt finalizes Electoral Bonds aimed at cleaning political funding

The government has finalized the scheme of Electoral Bonds, aimed at cleaning the system of political funding in the country.

The bonds will be a bearer instrument in the form of promissory note and will be an interest-free banking instrument.

Making a statement in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, the bonds will be issued and purchased from the specified branches of the State Bank of India for ten days in January, April, July and October.

They will be available in the multiples of one thousand, ten thousand, one lakh, ten lakh and one crore rupees.

Mr Jaitley said, the electoral bonds will not carry the name of the payee and have to be encashed only through a designated bank account. They will have a life of only 15 days during which it can be used for making donation only to the registered political parties.

Mr Jaitley said, the scheme will bring transparency in the funding to the political parties.